A different build... "TK421 why aren't you at your post?" Documenting my build for the Empire!

Looks like I did it again. Costume #5 approved last night, AT-ST driver. The scanning crew costume was only 3 items away (helmet, gloves, different COMM pad in sleeve) so it was a matter of time.

Had some extra $ after the holidays, so I splurged and ordered a finished helmet. Bought gloves last summer when a vendor did a run, and someone gifted me his last COMM pad from when he sold them on Etsy.

No idea if I'll do any more, never say never. Now we need to get back to events so I can wear these damn things.

Last night they canceled the June event for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra playing the soundtrack for the original movie.  Awesome.  Still have a car show troop scheduled that day, hoping the outside event is still safe.

Happy May the Fourth!  There is finally light at the end of this miserable tunnel...

Saturday our local group got together at a camp ground owned by one of the newer members.  He even had an Ewok village they've been adding to over the years.  And with a local beach nearby we had plenty of options for locations.

Funny thing, SWMBO was looking at the Google photos of the site before we left, and said "I think I went to band camp there in high school".  Sure enough, when we got there she was like "I slept in that cabin over there, the boys were in that one.  The drummers practiced in that field, over there..."  Yes, 30ish years ago "this one time at band camp".

Today I'm going to be a Handler at an event in Lewisburg for a petting zoo groundbreaking called Wild Hearts African Farm, and tonight in Middletown I'll be a stormtrooper at an event for service dog training.  The organization said normally they work the dogs at sports events with mascots, but 2020 was well, 2020.  So a dozen of us are going to a sky diving facility and dressing up, and they are going to bring the dogs around to us in costume.  Get them used to large weird costumes and sounds so they can do their job when needed.

"This is the May."

May the Fourth was a long day.  Suppoed to start with a 9am vet visit for my new cat, except he wasn't going into that carrier this time.  After chasing him 20-30min I canceled the appointment.  It wasn't worth the hassle.

First troop was 12-2pm at Wild Hearts African Farm, local politicians and donors for a groundbreaking on a big expansion.  I was a handler for that one and 5 costumed members.  The rain finally stopped near the end of the owner's speech, and most of us braved a walk over to the existing petting zoo.  It was worth watching Princess Leia hike up her white dress to avoid the mud on the path...

Second troop was 6-9pm, but I was busy in-between with driving, eating two meals on the road, uploading photos from troop #1 various places, and getting the costume together for #2.  I went with classic stormtrooper.  We had quite a variety, Vader, Chewbacca, Moroff (new character), stormtroopers, rebel pilots, jawas, the works.  And quite a variety of service dogs like expected labs and such, but also smaller dogs that I learned were good for detecting blood sugar issues of all things.

Almost forgot, the guy that made that Moroff (on stilts) also made that full R2D2.  It was good seeing many of my friends finally, some I hadn't seen in over a year.

Saturday was a troop that was postponed almost exactly a year.  Two members were to get married May 30th last year and we were going to help, but then 2020 happened.  They decided to have a very small thing for themselves, and wait for the more fun event when we could join.

We were a surprise to 95% of the guests, lining up in the hallway to come in near the end of the ceremony.  They started playing the music from the award ceremony at the end of the first movie, and that was our cue.  The looks on the faces.  (I'm the trooper behind the red guy.)

The venue was a former bank, the big vault in the middle was the bar.  We got in on some photos above the vault.

And then did some photos of our own because of course.  The guests were leery of photos with us at first, coming out of the Covid hibernation, but eventually warmed up to us.  Good food, good friends, (open bar but I don't drink), and a great night to celebrate.  It's good to be back.

Saturday morning (like 7am) was the SICSA Lift Your Leg 5 & 10K to benefit animals.  I decided to wear the new(ish) Rebel Fleet Trooper costume (that I rushed to get approved last April, womp womp).  We already had 3 stormtroopers and only one other non-mask character to help as a Handler in 13-14 characters, and I could sit down if I wanted.

Also I could do this!  The member in the red Royal Guard walked the whole 5K route in costume (velvet with underrobe and full helmet), he did not die thankfully.  Made for a good day.

Man, I am LOVIN this thread.  I dont know why I let this drop off my radar, but it was a blast getting caught back up.  You do some great work, and these are some awesome events you're helping with.

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks!  I'm just happy we're doing events again.  My next on is the 26th for a car show benefitting Make a Wish Foundation.  Have to look up the city again, Sydney OH I think.  They even let me put the Crosstrek in the show next to a booth we'll have.

Anyone want to go to a car show for Make A Wish Foundation and see me (& ~25 friends) in costume?

The Crosstrek will be next to our booth, and I think I'm taking the Gonk droid I built last year.

Cruisers for a cure

Come get a selfie!

That R2 looks great.  Is it wired up with motors and sound?

In reply to fromeast2west :

Completely.  He let me drive it at the Rise of Skywalker premiere event Dec 2019.  He's also built a full BB8, D-0, and other droids.  Plus he has multiple full costumes (he's in the big white furry guy) like a complete 3D printed C3-PO that he gets bolted into by an assistant.

Car show troop time, for the Make a Wish foundation.  Port Jefferson OH, don't blink or you'll miss the one flashing stop light...

I made a friend right off.  I talked to the Miata owner for a bit (in costume), it's a 90 like mine.  Until he started talking about adjusting to camber the wheels out, and I politely thanked him and moved along, moved along.  I wasn't sure what crowd they would get, but it was a mixture of about 50 cars- muscle cars old and new, trucks, imports, and a few antiques.

Possibly my favorite photo, for reasons. 

Next Monday is a holiday parade in Centerville (Dayton) if anyone's interested...

Yesterday was a parade for the 4thof July in Centerville.  I decided the RFT might be better suited to the heat, no face-covering helmet at least.  But it's multiple layers of clothing including a vest so maybe a draw?

It was warm.  I drank more water the day before than ever in my life I think.  Plus more before and after the parade.  Did I mention it was warm?  We went to Marion's Pizza after and I finally got Order 66.  (Star Wars fans will get that reference.)

This weekend was Gem City ComicCon and I was there all day, both days.  It was also the first time I got to bring GONK19 to a weekend event.  I ended up just wearing the stormtrooper both days, it's still my favorite costume and most recognizable I think.  I helped with the Bounty Hunt, where you donate $1 to charity and go into the crowd and one of us hunts you down.  That takes some energy and also I kept getting stopped for photos...

I always volunteer for Blast a Trooper, having full armor.  Gotta watch the kids aiming for the head, I'm less worried about crotch shots (armor) than the helmet and glued-in visor.

But the first full weekend event in two years felt pretty good.  I'm ready for the next which is Cincinnati Comic Expo in September.  Even bigger event.  (Means more Gatorade and ibuprofen.)

The Air Force museum at WPAFB has been having an on-going celebration for space and the anniversary of the moon landing.  We were invited to entertain as much as we wanted, and settled on 3 weekend events.  This weekend was the 2nd one and only one I could attend.

I spent about 4 hours in the stormtrooper costume (still my favorite, and someone mentioned last week didn't have any) and my back was feeling it by the end.  The museum is huge, 4 hangars, and the last 2 times I did an event, I didn't make it 100' from the dressing room in #4.  So this time we had two rooms, in #1 and #4 so I went with #1.  Still tracked my butt all the way to hangar 3 twice for group photos.

One of the costumers (we had about 35 plus 4 handlers) came up to me with a gentleman and said "I told him you were a car guy".  The gentleman had this Corvette outside that was part of the heritage of early astronauts getting Vettes.  He asked if we could get some photos with it & I said you bet.  About a dozen of us went out for photos & heard the stories he told about the cars and how they had tracked down most of the cars that had been given.

There's more information on LunarVette

Ended the day with dinner nearby with some members, then SWMBO said her kiddo was working at Graeter's not far away so a few of us went for ice cream.  Made for a long but very fun day.

Saturday was a very warm troop at a car show in Batavia (Cincinnati).  Memorial show for fallen police officers, the same outfit that had the March 2019 show when it was 36F out.  I don't know which was worse, the cold or Saturday's heat.  But we still had fun and plenty of requests for photos.

After about 3 hours in the heat my wireless mic battery died, and we didn't have another mask-less perso to be a handler.  So I volunteered to change and be the handler so our Vader could play a bit.  He made it about 30-45 minutes that afternoon, multiple layers of fabric, vinyl, and plastic, and we called it a day.  But I found him a nice ride at least.

Saturday was a social picnic for the Ohio Garrison. Same dam we did a big photo shoot in 2019 but this year was more laid back. Much warmer so not much interest in photos all day anyway.

But still a good turnout and nice to see my friends again. With time to relax and talk, not just while dressing for a troop.

Last night was a wedding troop for a fellow 501st member that I didn't know.  It was at a swanky venue called The Steamplant in downtown Dayton, a renovated old power plant.  Pretty neat place with large photos of what it looked like in the 20's and what the graffiti looked like just before they fixed it up.

We came out as a surprise at the end of everything, apparently even a surprise to the bride and groom.  We got plenty of photos with guests and they rented a photobooth machine, which became popular.

Today was a short one, so freaking hot.  But it was the Building Blocks for Kids Bubble Blast 4K in Mason OH.  Since it was the 1 year anniversary of my first offical troop in the jawa and SWMBO's first troop ever, we went with the jawa costumes.  Oof, did I mention hot?  She had some issues and before she got 100% frustrated opted to just be a handler, which I commend vs going 100% crazy like ex-wife would have.

Just under 2 hours but we still had some fun, mingled before the 4K started and saw everyone off at the start.  Two other groups joined us again, I'm sure every one of them were roasting as well.

Playing in the soap bubbles was defintiely fun, I was wearing a jawa robe so I didn't give a E36 M3 what it got on it, as long as it didn't stink.  It's all considered "weathering".

Saturday was another troop at the Air Force museum in Dayton.  I volunteered at the Humane Society Furry Skurry 5K and 1 Mile in the morning for 4 hours, so I decided to just be a handler/photographer for the afternoon.  We still had a decent turnout, 3 Vaders as well which is unusual outside of a convention.

This morning was the Holiday at Home parade in Dayton, and decided to go with scanning crew again.  It works well for warm temps and long walks.  It wasn't too bad this year, still a bit warm in the sun and waiting 3 hours to start walking.  This made troop #75.

Next event is the Cincinnati Comic Expo & it should be huge.  It's our big event every year & last year being canceled, I think many are itching for a convention.  The Delta/mask thing might keep some members away but I think it'll still be big.  Time to decide which costumes to take...

Maintenance day for Comic Expo yesterday.  Repaired some straps for the stormtrooper shoulder attachments, Grand Meowf Tarkin looks unimpressed.  And redid the sound glove for my jawa, after redoing hers a few weeks ago and it lasted all day.  Moved the circuit board inside that strap and sewed the velcro patch to the glove, vs adhesive.  I still need to reglue some wraps on the jawa boots, but otherwise I think I'm ready.

Whew, finally getting recovered from the Expo.

Two years ago I only had that big bin.  Add my jawa bin, her jawa bin, the large bag with two costumes, the helmet in that towel she carried over...

Friday I wore the newest one, the AT-ST driver.  I finally got to wear it with Ron, a retired armored cavalry guy that wears his all the time.  Here I am doing "The Ron".  We had a set that looked like freezing people in carbonite so that was my volunteer duty Friday evening, I wanted to be able to see the controls.  (Which turned out to just be a switch.)

Saturday was a long day, 9am till 8pm.  I saw this kid in a walking Gonk droid & needed a photo, luckily I wore the right shirt.  My mom came to visit so that was cool, I wasn't in costume yet because we had a surprise planned later.

Two friends had lost a bet, and had to wear the Pink Shorts Boom Mic guy costume during Expo & decided to do it during a march around the event.  Two months ago four of us schemed to secretly join them somehow.  The parade made it perfect, after they left we changed quickly and hid about 1/3 of the way down the path and jumped in when they caught up.  The expressions were priceless!  We were a hit, and two Expo guests from Star Wars movies/Mandalorian asked us to do a photo.  (Google Pink Shorts Guy Star Wars for more background info.  We planned for two months on costume and mic building.)

Saturday evening I helped with the bounty hunt, where you donate $5 to have us come hunt you or a friend down in the Expo area & bring you back for a photo.  The freezing chamber is new this year and pretty awesome.  Only issue was glare from the lighting overhead.

SWMBO didn't costume up much except Saturday, she finally wore Sadme (Padme when she's giving birth to Luke and Leia, yeah it's a costume and an easy entry into the Rebel Legion).  We did some photos with a friend that has a few other Padme costumes.

We raised almost $3700 about $1-5 at a time over the weekend, larger than 2019 with a smaller crowd.  I got to hang out with friends all weekend & have a blast.  Ready for next year!

Yesterday morning (early morning, oof) was the Rally in the Valley for Miami Valley Down Syndrome Association at the Dayton Dragons baseball stadium.  We were concerned it would get canceled for rain but they just moved the early parts inside the walkway.  The rain stopped after about 20 minutes and everyone went out onto the field.

This guy came right up and said hello, I remembered him from the 2019 Buddy Walk (same event).  I wore the stormtrooper last time, but he greeted everyone like he knew them his whole life.  Smaller group this year (like everything else) but still hundreds of kids and adults that were happy to have us.

We even managed to get a little baseball in before the walk...

Saturday was troop #80 and out of state.  Friday night after work we drove the 2.5hrs to Ft Wayne IN to a hotel room so we could do the Science Central event the next morning.  I got to meet a bunch of new members, and see a couple I've know for awhile.  I'm the 2nd stormtrooper from the right during a presentation about the Legions.  The lady next to me gave SWMBO ideas for a pin-up Imperial officer.  :)

Then after 3hrs I changed into regular clothes and SWMBO put her jawa on for an hour or two.  The venue is pretty neat, formerly a power station from the 20s and they left some equipment in to teach the kids.  Being 6yrs in nuclear power in the Navy I read everything like "yup, replace coal boiler with reactor and it's basically the same".

The drive there and back was interesting, quite a bit of 2 lane country roads and zig-zagging across Ohio and Indiana.  The USB cable in the Crosstrek kept cutting out for Android Auto, luckily SWMBO used her phone as backup and became my navigator till we hit I-75.  Already ordered a new cable.